Vitamin D Values in Blood

Why are vitamin D values important? Well, without knowing the vitamin D levels in your blood, you’re basically just shooting in the dark when it comes to getting enough sunshine or vitamin D supplementation. Do you know what the best vitamin D blood values are or the best way to measure vitamin D values in your blood? Read on to discover the answers to these questions.

Optimal vitamin D values in the blood are crucial. Many people are drastically short on vitamin D and don’t even realize it, but the consequences can be profound. Vitamin D acts more like a hormone than a vitamin. Every single cell in the body has a vitamin D receptor, and once received in the cell, vitamin D tells the cells what genetic codes to turn on. Vitamin D has an important role in optimizing your genetic potential and helps ensure that the bad codes (like those that can cause cancer or disease) in your DNA aren’t turned on. Vitamin D deficiency may play a role in a number of health problems, including: acne, breast cancer, heart disease, depression, fibromyalgia, melanoma, osteoporosis, periodontal disease, and prostate cancer.

Optimal vitamin D values in blood: Today many of us are drastically deficient in vitamin D. We get most of our vitamin D through internal production, which takes place when the skin is exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. It’s not uncommon for farmers, people who belong to traditional hunter/gatherer societies, or those who simply get outside a lot to have vitamin d blood values of around 100 ng/ml. Many Americans, by contrast, only have 10 to 30 ng/ml! Current research indicates that optimal vitamin d values in blood range from 50 to 100 ng/ml.

How to obtain the optimum vitamin D values in blood:

Have your vitamin D blood levels tested by your doctor or order your own test through Direct Labs.

Depending on the vitamin D values in your blood, you may need to get more sunshine or supplement with vitamin D3. It’s estimated that people with light-colored skin need about 10-15 minutes of sunshine three times per week, with maximum amount of skin exposure (i.e. bathing suit). People with dark-colored skin may need 20-30 minutes. For supplementation, the best amount of vitamin D3 is thought to be between 4,000 and 6,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily. (The CBH Daily Multi Nutrient contains 4,000 IU of Vitamin D3 per serving).

Vitamin D3 supplementation is safe up to relatively high amounts. The current upper tolerable limit for supplementation is 10,000 IU per day. Nevertheless, to ensure that your vitamin D blood levels aren’t too high or too low, it’s important that you have your levels tested.